Early Business Closures, Revised Gatherings, Mask Orders Announced to Disrupt Growth of COVID-19 Cases

 BOSTON – Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced a series of targeted measures to disrupt the increasing trend of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Governor Charlie Baker announced these changes at a time where public health data has indicated that cases are rising, with cases up by 278% and hospitalizations up by 145% since Labor Day. These measures are meant to disrupt rising trends now, so the Commonwealth can keep the economy and schools open for residents and to prevent the need to roll back to Phase I or Phase II of the reopening plan.

All orders and advisories will be effective Friday, November 6th at 12:01 AM.

New Orders & Advisories:

Stay At Home Advisory: The Administration issued a revised Stay At Home Advisory to ensure residents avoid unnecessary activities that can lead to increased COVID-19 transmission. The revised Stay At Home Advisory instructs residents to stay home between 10 PM and 5 AM. The Advisory allows for activities such as going to work, running critical errands to get groceries and address health needs, and taking a walk.

Click here to read the revised Stay At Home Advisory: www.mass.gov/stayhome.

Early Closure of Businesses and Activities: Governor Baker issued a new executive order that requires the early closure of certain businesses and activities each night at 9:30 PM. The 9:30 PM closure requirement is aligned with the Stay At Home Advisory and together the two new initiatives are designed to further limit activities that could lead to COVID-19 transmission.

Effective November 6, the following businesses and activities must close to the public each day between the hours of 9:30 PM and 5:00 AM.

• Restaurants (in-person dining must cease at 9:30 PM, although takeout and delivery may continue for food and non-alcoholic beverages, but not alcohol)
• Liquor stores and other retail establishments that sell alcohol must cease alcohol sales at 9:30 PM (but may continue to sell other products)
• Adult-use marijuana sales must cease at 9:30 PM (not including medical marijuana)
• Indoor & outdoor events
• Theaters/movie theaters (including drive-in movie theaters), and performance venues (indoor and outdoor)
• Youth and adult amateur sports activities
• Golf facilities
• Recreational boating and boating businesses
• Outdoor recreational experiences
• Casinos and horse tracks/simulcast facilities
• Driving and flight schools
• Zoos, botanical gardens, wildlife reserves, nature centers
• Close contact personal services (such as hair and nail salons)
• Gyms, Fitness Centers and Health Clubs
• Indoor and outdoor pools
• Museums/cultural & historical facilities/guided tours

Click here to read the new executive order (including full list of businesses required to close at 9:30 PM).

Face Covering Order: Governor Baker also signed an updated order related to face-coverings. The revised order requires all persons to wear face-coverings in all public places, even where they are able to maintain 6 feet of distance from others. The revised order still allows for an exception for residents who cannot wear a face-covering due to a medical or disabling condition, but it allows employers to require employees to provide proof of such a condition. It also allows schools to require that students participating in in-person learning provide proof of such a medical or disabling condition.

Click here to read the revised face-coverings order.

Gatherings Order: Governor Baker also signed an updated order restricting gatherings. The new gatherings order reduces the gathering size limit for gatherings at private residences: indoor gatherings at private residences are limited to 10 people and outdoor gatherings at private residences are limited to 25 people. The limit on gatherings held in public spaces and at event venues (e.g. wedding venues) remains the same. The new order also requires that all gatherings (regardless of size or location) must end and disperse by 9:30 PM.

The new gatherings order also requires that organizers of gatherings report known positive COVID-19 cases to the local health department in that community and requires organizers to cooperate with contact tracing. The gatherings order authorizes continued enforcement by local health and police departments and specifies that fines for violating the gathering order will be $500 for each person above the limit at a particular gathering.

Click here to read the revised gatherings order.

The current COVID-19 hasn’t stopped Wachusett Precision Tool (WPT) from growing, and Michael Carrigan, president of WPT, doesn’t intend on having it slow them down either. WPT has put in the appropriate safety policies as recommended by the CDC, including but not limited to masks, gloves, and social distancing.

Wachusett Precision Tool was created in December 2016 by Michael Carignan and vice president Matthew Saunders. The company was previously Bisson Tool and Die and was purchased in an asset sale. WPT started with eight employees and has grown to twenty-six employees over the past four years.

“Sales have increased from $800,000 in FY2016 to forecasted sales of $4,500,000 in FY2020. This sales growth was enabled by our expanded service offerings that include full mold building and qualification capabilities,” said Carignan.

According to their website, WPT is a full-service provider for medical products, medical device and packaging industries. WPT’s team is experienced in building a full range of prototype, pilot and class 101 production molds.

WPT offers full support through the development cycle of medical products, medical devices and complex packaging solutions. They offer quick-turn prototype solutions and have the capabilities to mold small quantities of parts for Design Verification and Human Factor Studies.

Their team is experienced in building molds and getting them through qualification, validation, and into production. They are more than “mold builders” as many of their key employees have come from the medical device manufacturing industry and have built and validated hundreds of medical molds for manufacturing globally.

“WPT purchased two injection molding machines that allow us to fully sample, debug and qualify all molds prior to delivering to our customers. Our experience with the qualification and validation of healthcare molds is instrumental to our ability to grow sales,” Carignan said.

WPT is currently in the process of purchasing the real estate they presently operate out of, and they expect to close on the purchase before the end of the calendar year. Once they have ownership of the building, they plan on developing plans for an expansion of floorspace that will enable continued growth.

“The most exciting activity for us is the purchase of the building and possible expansion. We have also added new equipment including a vertical EDM, CNC mill and laser engraver, and we have plans for additional equipment in the coming calendar year,” said Carignan.

Medical device and diagnostics contract manufacturer clients should reach out to the ever-growing Wachusett Precision Tool team for their next project. They are located at 830 Westminster Street in Fitchburg, MA. Find out more about WPT at www.wachusettprecisiontool.com or by calling them at 978-343-6443.

Eric Beaudoin, owner of Beaudoin HVAC, has been working with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) since he was 14 years old. About eleven years ago, he came up with a plan to run his brother’s company for him and on October 30^th, 2019, Eric purchased the company in full from his brother Keith.

Business started to grow with the assistance of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, and then the pandemic hit shortly after at the beginning of this year, but COVID-19 hasn’t stopped Beaudoin in his tracks.

“We had a two-week furlough, which wasn’t easy to tell new employees, especially after buying the business in October,” Beaudoin said, “but we opened back up after those two weeks, and a lot of clients came back. Our office manager works remotely and our 24/7 emergency line responds quickly.”

Beaudoin HVAC prepared for the “new normal” with pre-screening questions to ensure the safety of their technicians and personal protection equipment (PPE) like masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer.

The company recently became an authorized diamond dealer for Mitsubishi Electric, which allows them to be able to offer better warranties for clients, but they are also fluid in taking care of multiple brand and systems, including Daikin, American Standard, and more.

“We build a relationship with our clients, keeping their best interests in mind and what makes the most sense to solve the problem,” said Beaudoin. “We are transparent at the beginning, with no hidden nonsense. We go to the location, tell you what the problem is, and how to fix it. We aren’t perfect, but we just want to make sure that our clients are happy and satisfied with the service they receive. We love any client who love us, and appreciates the knowledge that we have.”

Masked up and ready to go, Beaudoin HVAC technicians are booked up with a full schedule up until around Christmas time. The fall time is the perfect time to get HVAC systems serviced, and Beaudoin recommends looking into hyper heat system installations, and can run all year instead of using gas or oil boilers.

Beaudoin HVAC can also service a wide variety of winter preparation such as preventing frozen pipes, checking thermostats, and annually following up with clients personally to recommend prepping their houses for winter time.

“We are proactive rather than reactive, which takes out the guess work for everyone,” said Beaudoin.

Pandemic or not, Beaudoin has brilliant plans for the future, such as growing the technician crew to a ten truck crew, so they may be able to care for a larger area of central Massachusetts.

“We want to build the brand so that clients can trust us, as we train ourselves to do the job right and put out the best product possible,” Beaudoin said.

For more information on Beaudoin HVAC, visit their website at www.beaudoinhvac.com or contact them via phone at 978-345-4270.

Join the discussion on the effects to our mental health and the stress in the workplace related to COVID-19. We will discuss managing the anxiety around reintegration back to the office and the anxiety of uncertainty of how to best proceed.

Kyrah Altman, President and Co-Founder of Let’s Empower, Advocate and Do, Inc. (LEAD) is our presenter for the November edition of the Human Resources Council. 

Since its founding, LEAD has transformed into the industry leader in mental health education in the United States. Altman travels the world, speaking about the impact of social entrepreneurship on trauma survivors, the importance of proactive mental health education in schools, and the idea that “while not everyone has a mental illness, everyone can improve their mental health.” Since 2012, Kyrah has been featured in the New York Times, on three national television stations, and was named the nation’s 3rd best student entrepreneur by the EO Global Student Entrepreneurs Award.

Participation in HRC programs is open to all members, but pre-registration is required. The cost is just $10 for members. For more information or to register, please visit www.NorthCentralMass.com.